BayBears Rally Late for Monday Victory

MOBILE, Ala. - After scoring five early runs against Suns starter Clayton Kershaw, the Mobile BayBears (18-20) broke a 5-5 deadlock with a seventh inning RBI single from Yunesky Sanchez for a 6-5 Monday night victory over the Jacksonville Suns (17-21) in front of 2,327 at Hank Aaron Stadium.

The loss dropped Jacksonville back to third place in the South Division, four games back of the first place Birmingham Barons. Jose Marte (1-1) picked up the relief win for Mobile while Zach Hammes (1-3) fell in the relief loss for Jacksonville after allowing the seventh inning run. Reid Mahon (9) saved the game, allowing one run in two innings.

The Suns opened the scoring in the first inning against Mobile starter Hector Ambriz. James Tomlin led off the game with his second homerun of the season. Later in the inning, Shane Justis singled home Greg Jacobs for a 2-0 lead.

Mobile got on the board against Suns starter Clayton Kershaw in the second inning. Rusty Ryal doubled, moved to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch to cut the Suns lead to 2-1.

The BayBears attacked again in the fourth inning, scoring four times against the Suns southpaw. The first four batters of the inning had hits, including a Bryan Byrne RBI single and Cesar Nicolas RBI double for a 3-2 Mobile lead. Cyle Hankerd later hit a sacrifice fly to score Nicolas for a 4-2 BayBears advantage while knocking Kershaw out of the game after three and one-thirds inning. Reliever Danny Muegge next allowed a Frank Curreri double that scored Rusty Ryal, opening the 5-2 Mobile advantage.

Kershaw finished after three and one-thirds innings with five runs, five hits and three strikeouts. The five earned runs were the most allowed by Kershaw in 13 Double-A outings (5 in 2007, 8 in 2008).

Jacksonville got Kershaw off the hook for the loss in the fifth inning, scoring three times with four consecutive two-out hits. Russell Mitchell\'s single scored Greg Jacobs for a 5-3 score. Jamie Hoffmann next singled home Mitchell, cutting the lead to 5-4. Shane Justis finally doubled home Hoffmann from first base to tie the game 5-5.

After Danny Muegge put the side down in order during the fifth and sixth innings, the BayBears took the lead back in the seventh inning against Suns reliever Zach Hammes. Yunesky Sanchez singled home Brandon Burgess, ending the scoring at 6-5.

The Suns were unable to score against Mobile closer Reid Mahon, as the right-hander allowed one hit in two innings to save the game.